How Simple Acts of Kindness Lead to Success

In today’s cut-throat, fast-paced rat race which we can also call a career, or work, or life, the way we imagine our journey to the top can look something like scoring a goal in the NFL – eyes on the prize and with a grunt, push all roadblocks out of our way. We sharpen our skills, work really hard, and tackle challenges head on, but who also thinks of climbing the ladder by being the epitome of a wizard from Hufflepuff or by giving away smiles, Coca-Colas and fruity jellies? Who also thinks of being kind to achieve success?

For those with online freelance careers where you don’t or seldom have face-to-face interactions, genuine kindness is still necessary to take you forward in your online career or help you accomplish successful transactions on the internet.

Here are 3 good ol’ sayings about kindness and how these can translate into action:

1. “Kindness goes a long way.”

Showing kindness by taking some time to help can cause a big impact to a person, community or society.

Helping an employer or freelancer can be as easy as doing a few clicks or it can require a bit more effort on your end. A good thing to remember is whenever we help, we take a step closer to accomplishing a goal or we make a positive contribution to somebody’s progress.

2. “Kindness does not equate to weakness.”

Being kind doesn’t mean being a pushover or just simply smiling and letting people get away with their mistakes. But instead of blowing off your steam and saying something offensive or derogatory, kind people act with tact – something which takes intelligence and a lot of self-control to do.

If there’s an issue to be resolved with a freelancer or employer, it doesn’t mean you can’t be honest or confronting. You just have to make sure that your choice of words don’t damage the other when getting to the bottom of things. This shows strong professionalism and keeps the focus on the issue at hand instead of taking the offense to a personal level. With kindness, things get resolved faster without developing grudges.

3. “Kindness is a leadership trait.”

Leaders are influencers and one way to gain influence is through kindness. Taking the time to listen, meet a need, or show that you care, wins people over better than dictatorship or tyranny ever can. As a leader, people will respond better to your kindness than if you are insensitively goal-driven, not caring about your team’s sacrifices or discomforts as long as you hit your target.

When working with a freelancer or employer online, showing kindness can actually settle things faster. Does the freelancer have some concerns about the project? Hear it out and try to help. Is the employer asking for a little favor? See what you can do about it. When we exhibit kindness in professional interactions, people respond positively toward us, allowing us to influence or effectively take the lead without the unnecessary resistance.

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Freelancer.com allows feedback, ratings and reviews to help employers and freelancers asses whom they’d like to work with. Showing kindness will produce a pleasant working experience – something which will be reflected in your feedback. Aside from that, what you want to cultivate is a good working relationship so that you can, at the very least, be on good terms with each professional contact. Having said all of this, kindness is evidently essential in effective work relationships and to your success as a freelancer or employer.

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Do an act of kindness today! Say hi or drop an encouraging word to your employer, freelancer, or to the kind people in the Freelancer support team who are always ready to assist you in whatever concern you may have. You can reach them at support@freelancer.com.